Released last May, marked the mainstream debut of southern California's Something Corporate. The collection of five guys fresh out of high school coming together to put forth a rock sound with obvious pop, punk and emo influences.
In an interview with The Daily Cardinal, guitarist Josh Partington talked about the tour with Juliana Theory thus far, saying, \We're in Denver right now, and the tour is going great. Just great. It's really a musician's dream so far.""
The rise to a nationally-known band was fast for group, who met in high school through mutual friends. ""I met Andrew [McMahon], our lead singer, at this party and we just started jamming together. After awhile, we just decided that we should start a band."" The group played frequently in Orange County, building up a fan-base by opening for groups like Sugar Ray that came through the area. Almost instantly, the five were signed to Drive-Thru/MCA Records to record their six-song EP, .
Despite Corporate's mixed sound and Drive-Thru's reputation as a punk label, Partington maintains ""... there was no problem making the EP. They really shared our vision, and there was a mutual respect, artistically. There wasn't pressure from the label, and as a band we've always said that if what we're doing is working, we're going to keep doing it.""
A unique sound emerges between McMahon's penchant for the piano, guitarist William Tell's Beatles influence and Partington's hard rock nature.
Besides McMahon's piano and the multiple guitars, had five tracks including string arrangements that were written and conducted by Grammy winner Paul Buckmaster. With all these influences, styles and instruments coming together, critics and fans often use numerous genres to describe Something Corporate. Partington claims that the band is ""just a rock band. I mean, if you call us emo, then look at a song like 'Cavanaugh Park.' That's the thing that gets bands in trouble, when they define themselves as emo or punk or whatever.""
According to Partington, the band isn't afraid to get onstage and play a slow piano ballad like ""Cavanaugh Park,"" followed by a more typical rock song like ""I Want To Save You.""
, released under the Drive-Thru/MCA label, was composed of both older songs and newly written material. With nearly a year since the album's release, Partington stated ""We're definitely working on new material while we're on the road.""
And, as successful as was, the band is definitely looking in some new directions for their next album. ""It was a versatile album, but it wasn't very cohesive. We want to do an album that grows--where we get to complete some thoughts, probably as a winter, somber album.""
This Sunday's show marks the third time that the band has played The Annex. ""The first time, when we were getting started, there was almost nobody there,"" Partington lamented. ""Then, when we came back the last time, it was sold out. It's a great place to play, which you don't expect. It was a surprise, but Wisconsin really is one of the coolest places to play.\
